Alliance Sales Executive, Associate Director - Microsoft, Energy - Houston

EY•Houston, TX

138d•Hybrid

About The Position

EY’s Sales & Strategic Pursuits (S&SP) function unites sales leadership, sector insight, technology expertise, and solution depth to drive market‑leading growth. As EY’s growth catalyst, S&SP shapes and executes integrated go‑to‑market strategies across priority accounts, industry sectors, and strategic alliances—delivering differentiated value through a deeply client‑centric culture. As a Microsoft Alliance Sales Executive (MSFT SE), you will operate at the front edge of growth for EY’s largest and fastest‑growing alliance. This is a true sales hunter role—focused on originating net‑new opportunities, building pipeline, and closing revenue through deep partnership with Microsoft and direct engagement with Energy clients. You will be a market‑facing, quota‑carrying executive seller with deep expertise across Microsoft’s enterprise technology stack and a strong command of the Energy sector landscape. You will proactively create demand, not respond to it—identifying whitespace opportunities, shaping transformative conversations, and positioning Microsoft‑powered EY solutions that address the most complex challenges facing energy clients. You will also be expected to embed AI‑driven thinking and tools into every aspect of your sales role—how you prospect, identify patterns, qualify opportunities, orchestrate pursuits, influence buyers, and accelerate time‑to‑close—serving as a model for modern, AI‑enabled enterprise selling at EY.

Requirements

Hunter mindset with a strong bias for action, curiosity, and persistence
Exceptional executive presence with the ability to influence senior government and Microsoft stakeholders
Proven ability to navigate and succeed in a highly matrixed, alliance‑driven environment
Consultative selling style—trusted advisor, not transactional seller
Strategic thinker with the ability to connect technology, policy, funding, and mission outcomes
Comfortable leveraging data and AI insights to guide decisions and storytelling
10+ years of quota‑carrying sales experience in professional services, technology, and/or enterprise solutions
Demonstrated success as a net‑new business hunter, not solely an account or alliance manager
Direct experience selling to Energy clients, with deep understanding of industry challenges and transformation drivers
Strong Microsoft ecosystem experience, including co‑sell and channel‑led motions
Deep knowledge across Microsoft’s enterprise stack, including: Azure & Cloud Platforms, Data, Analytics & AI, Cybersecurity, Power Platform & Low‑Code Solutions, AI Foundry
Experience with the broader Microsoft partner ecosystem and how Microsoft fits into a multi-vendor landscape
Prior experience selling at a Big Four firm or large global systems integrator
Exceptional client relationship management and executive communication skills
Bachelor's degree (or equivalent)

Nice To Haves

Technical background or delivery/program leadership experience
Experience selling large, complex, multi‑stakeholder transformation programs
Strong coaching and mentoring capability
Proven team‑selling experience across alliances and solution teams
Willingness to travel up to 50%

Responsibilities

Relentlessly originate net‑new pipeline within the Energy sector by identifying unmet needs, emerging priorities, and transformation opportunities
Drive sales across three core channels: Direct client origination, Microsoft field‑led co‑sell motions, EY account team‑led pursuits
Lead early‑stage opportunity identification and qualification, independently shaping pursuits from signal detection through deal maturation
Act as a trusted partner to Microsoft Energy field teams, evangelizing for EY building credibility and mindshare across account executives, specialists, and solution leadership
Evangelize and position EY’s Microsoft‑powered offerings across Cloud & AI Platforms, AI Business Solutions and Security
Shape joint go‑to‑market motions and influence Microsoft investment toward EY‑led pursuits
Demonstrate deep understanding of Energy clients, funding models, procurement cycles, policy drivers, and risk constraints as well as pressing sector challenges such as operational efficiency, asset reliability, safety, sustainability, supply chain resilience, and regulatory compliance
Translate Microsoft technology capabilities and EY’s MSFT powered solutions, into outcomes that resonate with Energy company executives, including resiliency, trust, citizen experience, data modernization, cybersecurity, and AI‑enabled government
Build executive relationships with clients to establish EY as a strategic transformation partner
Infuse AI into the full sales lifecycle, including: Account and opportunity analytics, Intelligent prospecting and prioritization, Pattern recognition across pipeline, and buying signals, AI‑supported storytelling, proposal shaping, and pursuit orchestration, Integrating and leveraging digital sales agents across the entire sales lifecycle
Champion AI‑enabled EY and Microsoft solutions with credibility, demonstrating both technical fluency and business impact
Serve as a role model for modern, AI‑forward sales execution, helping elevate sales effectiveness across teams
Deep sector and Microsoft technology expertise, with the ability to translate that knowledge into enterprise-scale transformations that deliver measurable business outcomes.
Be the face of EY’s Microsoft Alliance within EY’s Energy business and the face of EY to Microsoft Energy teams
This role requires an individual who can envision and activate a multi‑alliance ecosystem, helping position EY as the firm that orchestrates partners, platforms, and services to unlock new growth and transformation opportunities for clients
Orchestrate cross‑service line and cross‑functional teams to bring the best of EY to pursuit opportunities
Coach and influence account teams and peers through active leadership in the market—not authority alone